Technical Field
The present disclosure is directed to a multilayer structure in an integrated circuit for damage prevention and detection and methods of creating the same.
Description of the Related Art
As integrated circuits get smaller and denser, damages to dice become critical. Any damages, such as cracks or moisture exposure, to the dice may result in defects in the integrated circuits. Current methods for preventing damages to dice include forming protective structures on the edges of each die. For example, structures may be formed on respective corners of a square shaped die at the end of a fabrication process to minimize damages caused by wafer dicing.
Current methods, however, do not protect damages that may occur throughout a fabrication process. That is, current methods do not prevent damages that may occur during the fabrication of each level, such as a via level or a metal level, of a die. Current methods also cannot be performed simultaneously with the fabrication of electrical components of an integrated circuit and require additional fabrication steps to form protective structures. This results in increased fabrication time and cost. In addition, current methods do not allow damages to dice to be detected throughout fabrication.